Over the next 17 days, the Oilers will make separate stops in each city and will return home in two-and-a-half weeks' time with a clearer picture of where they stand with less than half the season to play.

"We're feeling really good about it," said Head Coach Ralph Krueger after wrapping up a 45-minute practice at the Leduc Recreation Centre Sunday morning. "You can feel the energy here. Everybody's excited.

"We need to keep the picture really, really small and take very good care of our bodies and our minds.

"We need to work really, really intelligently together on conserving our energy, on the nutrition, on the times we go on the ice, how long that's going to be, our sleep patterns -- we're staying over on three nights that we wouldn't have done in the past. All kinds of details have been taken care of by the staff. Our nutrition on the airplane will be as good as ever and all these little details will help us to have the energy and the focus to help us perform the way we want to on any given night."